Local press covers SPEAC fundraising and training

January 23, 2013 edition (Volume 13, Number 24) of the

Hopkinton Independent

"The Big Picture in a Small Town"

Markey taking advantage of Hopkinton training grounds

by Jean Cann

 

Joe Markey, who lives and works in Hopkinton, will run his second Boston Marathon. He qualified to run the 2012 Boston Marathon, but the heat slowed him in last year’s race. Rather than try to requalify at a different marathon, Markey opted to run with a waiver number from SPEAC (Special Education Parent Advisory Council). He hopes to raise at least $3,000 for the non-profit, all-volunteer organization that works with the school district to ensure the effective education of all students with special needs or learning disabilities.

“Raising money for SPEAC is one thing I’m doing to work very locally to make the world overall a better place,” said the former Hopkinton Planning Board member. “Helping children with special needs and their families find the resources they need to learn, cope, and thrive ultimately benefits everyone in our community, and eventually beyond our community.

Fundraising has been on target. Markey has been using a blog (http://joemarkey.blogspot.com) for information about SPEAC, links through which to donate, and training updates. The father of three gets out the door before 6 a.m., and often before 5:30 a.m., six days per week. He started a specific 18-week marathon training program in December, and hit his all-time high of 65 weekly miles last week. Typically, he runs nine miles Monday, 10-15 on Tuesday, five on Wednesday, nine or 10 on Thursday, five on Friday, and a long run of 15 to 20 miles on Saturday.

Markey has achieved the strong training despite a swollen ankle in December. He partially healed it by icing or sticking his bare foot in a snow bank after running. “If there’s something persistent, I call Hopkinton Physical Therapy, and they’ve always provided effective treatment and advice,” he said. “Taking a couple days off is difficult, but better than getting seriously injured and missing the race.

The Markey family lives less than a mile from the Boston Marathon starting line. He finds that his hometown offers many training advantages. “Training on the Boston Marathon course is certainly one advantage,” he said. “An even more important advantage, I think, is the fact that Hopkinton is a very health and fitness oriented community. Hopkinton offers great sidewalks, great scenic roads, great trails, and a unique connection to the marathon that no other town can offer. Whether I run at 5 a.m., 5:30 a.m., or 2 p.m., I can be sure to see many other people also out running. In Hopkinton, you’re always going to find someone who runs further, faster, or overcomes more obstacles in order to run; I find that inspiring, and it certainly creates a standard that sets Hopkinton apart."

Click here to read more and make a contribution!

Boston training - week 7 report

It was cold this week. Many mornings of single digit F temperatures and some snow and wind. But it's getting brighter in the mornings. Focusing on the schedule and getting it done reduced the relevance of the external conditions. Total miles run this week: 68 miles.

• Monday, 1/21: 8.9 miles
• Tuesday, 1/22: 14 miles
• Wednesday, 1/23: 5.2 miles
• Thursday, 1/24: 11.5 miles
• Friday, 1/25: 7 miles
• Saturday, 1/26: 21.4 miles

Click here to read more and make a contribution!

Running at the South Pole

Here's a meticulous report from a scientist stationed at the South Pole, who also happens to be a runner!  The extreme cold temperatures have not stopped him from running.  He writes about one day last March, "the temperature dropped down to -64.6 C (-84.3 F), and I still enjoyed a nice 5-mile run."  Read more on his blog:

Note: this is not me, this is the guy on the South Pole. 

Photo source is The Adventures of Marco Polie blog.

Colder, but Brighter

Yes, yes, it's cold out there.  But, on the bright side of things, have you noticed the Sun has been rising earlier?  It's brighter in the mornings.  The second half of my runs are now almost entirely in the light.  Just a few weeks ago, darkness covered the run from beginning to end.

The sun peeking over the horizon is such a welcome site after completing an early morning run.  Here's a view taken from my back deck around 7:30 a.m. after Tuesday's 14 miler:

Click here to read more and make a contribution!

Toughest part of running: Getting out the door

The alarm was set to 4:45 a.m. for Tuesday morning's 14 mile run, but after the alarm sounded I stayed in bed another 10 minutes trying to come up with a good excuse not to run (sinus headache, not enough sleep, too cold, snowed last night).  What finally got me out of bed was imagining explaining to myself later in the day why I hadn't run.

Ready, laced up, but couldn't find the insulated hat (another good excuse: can't run with "no hat" when it's 18 degrees out), but then the hat turned up and I was out the door and running by 5:30 a.m..  A little later than planned, but glad I made it.  Worked the Upper Charles River Trail into a 14 mile Hopkinton-Milford-Hopkinton loop.

Read more and donate on my fundraising page!

Kennedy Center concerts reaching special needs audience

It sure seems to make sense for a symphony to find a way to connect with an audience that seems to most appreciate and feel the music: children on the autism spectrum or with other special needs.  Here's a link to a Washington Post story: Kennedy Center offers ‘sensory-friendly’ concerts for children with special needs

"The children do not know that the music is about war, yet they stomp along with the fury. A young boy shakes his hands as though they have caught fire, keeping tempo with the violin’s shrieks. A girl in a pink romper, no older than 6, jumps to her feet to conduct from the 12th row. And at the abrupt end, the children wail without inhibition, because this is how one feels after hearing Shostakovich’s Eighth String Quartet; this is how one feels when dropped from its dizzying pull. And when children with autism or special needs feel something inside, they often express themselves with movements and sounds."

Here's another link to a similar program in the Boston MetroWest area: Autism friendly performance at Acton's Open Door Theatre.

Thank you to everyone who has already donated to my marathon fundraising for Hopkinton Special Education Advisory Council. Your generosity inspires me. Read more and donate on my fundraising page!

Improving Hopkinton's downtown for traffic and pedestrians

Would you like to see improvements to roads, sidewalks, cross walks, bike lanes, traffic signals in Hopkinton's downtown? Attend this meeting Thursday, 1/17/2013, 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. at Town Hall to receive an update and to provide input on this draft prior to formal submission of downtown "25% design plan" to MassDOT.

Here are links to the current design draft, along with a vision plan that preceded the design:

• Current draft of 25% Design
• Visions of Hopkinton: Steps toward downtown revitalization

Here are links to some of my blog posts on related topics over the past few years:

• Pedestrian Transportation Plan, October 2010.
• Steps toward downtown revitalization, May 2010.
• Kick-off meeting on downtown planning, January 2010.
• Downtown planning project starting, January 2010.
• Planning for downtown improvements, October 2009.
• Downtown improvements, October 2009.

Thank you to everyone who has already donated to my marathon fundraising for Hopkinton Special Education Advisory Council. Your generosity inspires me. Read more and donate on my fundraising page!

No time to run?

For me, the easiest part of the day to find extra time is: early in the morning before anyone else in the house is awake. Like many people, I'm pretty busy the rest of the day and evenings, and if I don't get it done early, chances rapidly diminish of ever completing the run later in the day. 

I prefer to finish my runs by 7:00 a.m., which means most runs have to start before 6:00 a.m.  

In fact, reviewing my Garmin log for the past month:

• 70% of my runs started before 6:00 a.m., and half of those started before 5:30 a.m. 
• 10% started between 6:00 and 6:30, 
• 5% between 6:30 and 7:00,
• 10% between 7:00 and 7:30
• Only 5% were afternoon runs.  

Longer runs to me mean waking up earlier, not finishing later.  Here's a map of this morning's 12 miler, which incorporated a nice route through Hopkinton State Park.  I started at 5:24 and finished just before 7:01...in time to take out the trash for pickup and greet some adorable sleepy-heads as they woke up for breakfast.

Thank you to everyone who has already donated to my marathon fundraising for Hopkinton Special Education Advisory Council. Your generosity inspires me. Read more and donate on my fundraising page!

Week 5 report: back on track

Back on track this week, with 65.4 miles logged, which is more than any week I can remember.  Concluded with an 18 mile run with a friend from Hopkinton to Newton on the marathon course this morning.

• Sunday: 4.5 miles
• Monday: 8.9 miles
• Tuesday: 14 miles
• Wednesday: 5 miles
• Thursday: 11 miles
• Friday: 4 miles
• Saturday: 18 miles

Thank you to everyone who has already donated to my marathon fundraising for Hopkinton Special Education Advisory Council. Your generosity inspires me. Read more and donate on my fundraising page!

Exploring trails in Hopkinton, MA

The Hopkinton Trails Club today led a hike on the recently acquired "Hughes property," which is now owned by the Town of Hopkinton.  It is now a public resource.  I recommend this trail to anyone living in nearby neighborhoods, anyone interested in exploring, and definitely for runners interested in an alternate entry point to the Teresa Road neighborhood.

To access this trail, go to 192 Hayden Rowe, near Chestnut.  From there you can follow the trail a half mile through to Joseph Road.  Here's a map: 

 

Thank you to everyone who has already donated to my marathon fundraising for Hopkinton Special Education Advisory Council. Your generosity inspires me. Read more and donate on my fundraising page!

Injury update, and Boston Training - week 4 report

Temporary interruption to marathon training this week, due to minor injury.  Here's the good news:

• If you're going to have an injury, this is the best time for it: early in the training season, with plenty of time to get back on track.
• It does not look like a stress fracture, nor is it tendinitis. Prognosis is good for being back in full swing within a week or two, with help and special thanks to Hopkinton Physical Therapy.

Having to take time off from running, even temporarily, is very difficult; I still wake up at 5:15 a.m., and at that hour I'd much rather be heading out to run on scenic roads with others than sitting on the stationary bicycle at the gym for 2 hours and 15 minutes, like this morning.  

If you are ever in need of PT, I highly recommend Hopkinton Physical Therapy; they have extensive knowledge and experience, high ethical standards and a staff that works well together, are focused on understanding each individual's needs, and not only deliver relief for the immediate injury but also impart physiological wisdom to prevent recurrence.  I always leave learning something.

It turns out that putting my foot in the snow AFTER Tuesday's run was a good idea (picture below), but putting ice on my leg BEFORE Tuesday's run was a bad idea: 

With that, here's the training summary for this week: 

• Monday: 9 miles (and made an appointment with Hopkinton Physical Therapy. 
• Tuesday: 13.4 miles
• Wednesday: 0 miles
• Thursday: 0 miles. PT appointment. 
• Friday: 0 miles. 
• Saturday: 2 hours and 15 minutes indoors on the stationary bicycle

Thank you to everyone who has already donated to my marathon fundraising for Hopkinton Special Education Advisory Council. Your generosity inspires me. Read more and donate on my fundraising page!

Happy New Year!

2013 began for me the same way as 2012: with a 13.1 mile run at 6 a.m., along the Boston Marathon course.  There is hardly any traffic along route 135 at that hour on New Years Day, making it ideal for the run.  Temperatures were moderate, in the mid 30s. Ran with 5 or 6 from the Hopkinton Running Club and others from around New England; some of us ran 13.1 miles into Wellesley center, while others ran the entire course, 26.2 miles - just for fun and to start off the year right.

Thank you to everyone who has already donated to my marathon fundraising for Hopkinton Special Education Advisory Council. Your generosity inspires me. Read more and donate on my fundraising page!